


Day Three: Small Spaces

by clarkegriffvn



Series: The 100 Femslash February 2015 [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Claustrophobia, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-10 14:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3292997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarkegriffvn/pseuds/clarkegriffvn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke and Lexa have been captured by Mount Weather and restrained in an interrogation room. Clarke struggles to calm Lexa as she is revealed to be claustrophobic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day Three: Small Spaces

She couldn’t see. Clarke jolted awake, gasping for breath.

She was sitting, bound to some sort of chair, but it wouldn’t move when she struggled. The air around her was stale, and smelled like sweat and cement. Her sudden blindness was disorienting at first, but soon she realized that she must be in a room without light. Clarke twisted her aching head side to side to make sure, but all she saw in the room was blackness. At least she assumed it was a room, telling from the lack of sound other than breathing. Her hands were bound behind her by metal cuffs of some sort, and it hurt when she pulled at them. The moment she stilled and tried to collect her senses, she heard someone else.

“H- hello?” croaked a voice. “Who is there?” 

It was strangely familiar, but Clarke struggled to place it. Her mind was full of holes, as if someone had gone at it with scissors and lopped all the important parts off. What was the last thing she remembered?

They’re in the forest. It’s just before dawn, and sunlight hasn’t begun to trickle through the trees just yet. She’s crouched on the ground with one hand steadying her against the dirt floor, fingers spread and palm lifted. Her other hand holds a gun, and she remembers feeling strangely accustomed to the deadly weight of it in her grip.

She looks behind her and sees a group of people crouched behind her, watching the person next to her. They’re all armed and dressed in black. Beside her, Lexa crouches with her sword balanced across her knees. She’s looking ahead, waiting for something. A signal.

Finally, the memory comes together. She and Lexa were leading a task force into Mount Weather to rescue their people on the day of the big battle. What went wrong? How were they captured?

Wait, _Lexa_. That’s who the voice sounded like. Clarke hadn’t been able to place it before because something was off. Fear filled her voice.

“Lexa? Are you there?” Clarke asked, twisting her head in the direction the voice came from.

"Clarke," Lexa echoed, disbelieving. "I'm bound to a chair and everything is... _dark._ "

"Same for me," Clarke replied. "The room must be sealed without light."

While a part of her felt devastated that the Mountain Men caught Lexa as well, she was also comforted by the grounder commander's presence. They're stronger together. Clarke allowed relief to wash over her, attempting to clear her mind with a deep breath. 

"What happened to us?" she asked. "The attack? I can't remember."

Lexa exhaled shakily before speaking with a haunted voice. "Our party couldn't get inside in time; we got swept up in the fighting instead. It was a standstill. No advance on either side for ... _hours_. Your people called it an impasse. Both sides agreed to withdraw and reinforce, but the Mountain Men broke their word," Lexa spat. Tied to a chair and blind, Lexa could still sound deadly. But then her breathing became shallow. "They attacked without warning. We lost so many, Clarke... It was a bloodbath worse than I have ever seen."

"God," Clarke whispered, partially glad that she didn't remember much of it. She prayed that the others were alright.

"When I saw you drop the the ground, I was certain you-- you were dead," Lexa continued, strain in her voice. "I broke formation to avenge you, and they felled me as well. From there all I remember is waking up here, restrained like an animal. I've been trying to pull free, but the cuffs are too strong. "

Clarke had nothing to say to that. She was still processing what Lexa had told her.

Lexa had tried to avenge Clarke? And got caught because of it? Clarke shook her head, silently awed. Of course she would have done the same for Lexa, but the thought that the commander felt the same way... it baffled Clarke.

Instead of dwelling on it, Clarke pushed aside the distracting thoughts. She had to focus on their escape right now. 

"I'm going to try something, hold on Lex."

Clarke pulled on her left hand, trying to squeeze it out of the cuffs. After a few struggling attempts, Clarke realized that it was impossible. 

_Unless_... Clarke thought back to the dusty anatomy book Wells had found for her back on the Ark. The hand contained some of the smallest bones of the human body. If she could just-- Clarke wrenched on her hand with all her strength, pressing on a small bone in her thumb. Red hot streaks of pain shot up her arm as she felt the finger break and the flesh of her thumb tear. A scream ripped from her throat as her hand pulled free, hanging limp at her side. 

"Clarke, what happened? Are you hurt? Clarke!" Lexa yelled, straining at her bonds.

Clarke groaned in painful relief as the last of the blinding agony washed over her. Tears leaked from her eyes and her chest heaved, drawing in deep breaths of hot, stale air. Her left hand was useless, but after a moment or two she regained some of her senses. Though the pain still pulsed up her arm, it was more manageable. 

"It's okay," she said between gasps of air. "I pulled a hand out of one of the cuffs. Hang tight, I'll untie us."

Clarke's right hand shook as she fumbled with the ropes tying her down. Untying knots in the dark took painfully long. Blood soon began to drip down from her broken hand as it burned with pain beside her. The handcuff still dangled down from her other wrist, clanking against the metal of the chair as she struggled to get free. The only other sound in the room was Lexa's heavy breathing.

"I'm almost free," Clarke assured her.

Her other leg was easier to untie now that she knew what she was doing. Soon she was able to stand, putting her good hand out in front of her in the dark. 

Clarke followed the sound of the grounder's breathing. "Lexa?" 

"Here," the commander replied, not far to Clarke's right. 

Her hand hit Lexa's shoulder first, and instinctively moved up to cup her face. Clarke crouched down to untie her legs immediately, grateful for the darkness that hid her blush. After a considerable amount of cursing, Lexa was free. Clarke moved back a bit to allow Lexa some room, but she hit a wall. Clarke got up, walking the perimeter of their holding place.

"There's two long sides and two short. About four strides by three. There's a door here but," Clarke jiggled the handle, "it's locked from the outside."

When there was no response, Clarke's eyebrows drew together. "Lexa?"

"I-- it's dark. I can't-- can't breathe," Lexa gasped from the other side of the tiny room. "The walls-- we're _trapped_."

Clarke's stomach dropped. “Hey, you’re going to be okay, alright? We’ll get out of here soon," she soothed, following the sounds of Lexa's rushed and fearful breathing. 

Claustrophobia. No wonder Lexa had sounded so scared before. But now that she could feel the walls and couldn't pretend that she was somewhere else, she was having a panic attack. 

Clarke found Lexa curled with her knees to her chest and her back to one of the walls and sat beside her. 

"Just breathe, Lexa," she instructed, putting her good hand on the commander's shoulder. "Breath deeply. We're going to be okay. We're going to get out of here. I promise."

“No no no,” Lexa replied with a panicked, shuddering breath. She was hunched and shaking beneath Clarke's hand.

Clarke felt a shot of desperation and fear tear through her. She gritted her teeth against the feeling and tried again to sooth Lexa.

“Lexa, you can overcome this. You’re the commander of an _army_ of warriors! You’ve defeated hundreds of people in hand-to-hand combat. You're the strongest person I know. _Please_." Lexa's breathing slowed, shoulders lifting slightly. Clarke kept going. "You can do this. The only way we can get out of here is if you hold it together for me. Do this for me.”

Lexa relaxed under Clarke's touch. Her breathing became normal again and her back straightened. Clarke withdrew her hand, but Lexa reached out and grabbed it in the dark. Clarke smiled at the return of Lexa's cat-like reflexes and stood, helping Lexa to her feet.

"Thank you, Clarke."

Clarke nodded solemnly into the dark. "I meant what I said. We're getting out of here, even if I have to kill every damned person in this mountain to do it."


End file.
